Insomnia
by Supersilver46
Summary: Hermione Granger is your normal everyday girl. She gets good grades, has a lot of friends...but at night she can't help but hesitate to fall asleep. For some reason, some lingering dread fills her whenever she goes to sleep, but she can't put her finger on it...[AU]
1. Chapter 1

She was eleven years old, when she saw her first death. She wasn't sure where she was, or what she was doing, but there was only her, the man who was choking to death, the cabinet behind him and the feeling of something cold in her hands. She looked down, only to see her reflection staring back at her from the knife she held in her hands.

"G...gahhhg." The man tried to speak, but the blood that was pooling down his neck from his wound made it difficult. He heaved a glob of red spit onto the floor, which splashed onto her shoes. His eyes were bloodshot as he desperately tried to cling on to the last moments of life he had. He tried to push himself off the ground and head for the telephone that laid on the cabinet. He managed to pull the phone down and dialed for help.

"999, what's your emergency?"

"G...ag...gh."

"Hello? Is everything alright?"

She walked across the room and gently pried the telephone out of the man's hands and cut the wire, dropping the phone onto the ground.

" _Why am I doing this?"_ She thought to herself as she raised the knife over her head. She plunged into the man's back, causing him to jolt in pain as tears pooled out of his eyes. She pulled the knife out and then plunged it into the man's back again,and again, and again...Eventually the man had either given up or died, because after the third strike he had stopped moving and laid still on the ground. Blood soaked his carpet, staining the carpet of his floor a deep red.

She eventually got up from the ground and went into the kitchen, there she found a dish rag which she used to methodically clean the knife. She started to hum a little tune to herself as she cleaned the knife,

" _Is this a dream?"_

It had to have been, right? There was no way she'd ever consider murdering anyone in cold blood like this, and she wouldn't have been so chipper about committing a crime as horrible as murder. Still she admired reflection as she finally cleaned the blade, before rummaging around in her pockets for a lighter. She opened the cabinets that were under the kitchen sink and pulled out a container full of oil. She opened the cover and dumped the oil over the man's body, and then she went to spread it all around his small apartment room.

She then took a box full of matches, and after opening the door to his room, she set it on fire and tossed it inside before shutting the door behind her. The smell of burning flesh filtered through the air as she ran down the steps two at a time, as the other residents of the apartments began to race out of their rooms after the fire alarm went off. She reached the first floor and immediately ran outside, she could hear the sounds of sirens wailing through the night. She turned her head to look at the apartment that had been set on fire before tripping and-

"Gah!" Hermione Granger clutched a hand to her chest as sweat pooled down her forehead. As she calmed down, she realized that she wasn't anywhere near burning buildings, which meant that she just had another nightmare. She'd been getting a lot of those lately, though maybe that was because she stayed up late reading murder mystery stories. She sighed in relief and went back to bed, hoping to at least get some sleep before school tomorrow...

And outside, the police and firemen tried their best to rescue people who had been stuck in a burning apartment...


	2. Chapter 2

Sirius Black sighed as he looked up at the smoldering apartment building. The smoke rose into the dawn sky as firefighters finally began to leave for the day, their job finished for now. Outside, people sat on the grass or on the sidewalk, some of them were huddled together while others stared blankly up at their home, some were talking excitedly over their cellphones, not bothering to even take a breath as they explained what happened to the other person on the line. Caution tape was placed all around the building in order to keep people from contaminating the crime scene.

Of course, that didn't stop the vultures from swooping in and trying to scramble for whatever scraps they could get. One of his least favorite vultures leapt out of her news van and stuck a microphone in his face,

"Mr. Black, I'm Rita Skeeter with the Daily Prophet," The woman said as she flashed her business card at him, "I was wondering if you could give me a statement about what happened at the apartment."

He took a step back and sighed, really why was he the one who had to deal with this? He glanced down at his watch and couldn't help but feel a little irritated. Remus and James should have shown up by now, they were better at handling nosy reporters like Skeeter than he was.

"Actually, ma'am we can't discuss about the incident yet."

Lo and behold, James Potter had arrived in all his glory. His best friend pushed his glasses up his nose as he gave Skeeter one of his biggest smiles, "I'm sorry but until the chief gives us the okay, we can't talk about it." James said.

"So get lost." Sirius thought to himself. Skeeter pursed her lips and stormed back to her news van, no doubt preparing to write an article about the injustices she suffered at the hands of the police. Sirius sighed in relief,

"Thanks for showing up when you did," he told James, "Seriously I was this close to blowing up at her."

"No problem," James winked at him. "Sorry I was late, traffic was insane at Phoenix avenue, Remus is probably going to be late too."

"Eh, it's fine, anyway are you ready to head into the crime scene?"

"Yeah, let's go, Snape isn't going to wait for us forever."

Sirius sighed again, dealing with both Snape and Skeeter on the same day would be sure to give him a headache. As the crossed over the police tape the climbed up the stairs to the victim's room on the fifth floor of the apartment. The lower floors had made it out of the fire unscathed, the firefighters had arrived before the fire could engulf the entire apartment. The third, fourth, and fifth floor were the extent that the fire had reached, and luckily there had been only one casualty. Well, luckily wasn't the word people would use to describe a death, but he'd take one dead body over dozens of dead bodies.

As they climbed up the steps, the scorch marks on the walls got larger, Sirius wiped his hands on his jeans after touching the guard rail, soot had already begun to settle on the stairs, coating his shoes in the dusty material. Eventually they reached the fifth floor and entered the victim's room, room 5666, Snape was busy writing things on a large clipboard he held in his hands but stopped when he heard the two of them walk into the room.

"Potter. Black." Snape said in a clipped tone as he went back to writing on his clipboard, "You certainly took your time getting here."

Sirius was about to snipe back at Snape, but James put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. Sirius sighed, and James spoke up,

"So, Snape, what have you found out so far?" he asked.

"Not too much I'm afraid," Snape said as he flipped through his clipboard, "The victim's name was Qunirus Quirell, he was a teacher at Hogwarts Academy."

"The cause of death were fatal stabbings to the chest and the neck, the victim also showed signs of trauma-specifically on the head."

"Wait, so the fire wasn't what killed him?" Sirius asked in surprise. When the firefighters had reported that there was a dead body on the fifth floor, he had assumed the fire was what did him in. But for the guy to get murdered right before the fire...wait before the fire? If that was the case, then it was possible that the culprit had started the fire in order to cover up their tracks.

"Did anyone see anything?" James asked.

Snape shook his head in frustration, "No, no one saw anything, they were all too focused on escaping with their lives."

"How about the cameras they've got set up in here?" Sirius asked.

"No, the cameras on the fifth to third floors were destroyed during the fire, and the cameras on the second and first floor shorted out."

Sirius sighed, "So basically we've got nothing,"

Snape smirked, and Sirius felt annoyed, whenever Snape smirked like that it was usually when he knew something you didn't and was going to lord it over you for all time.

"While it's true that the cameras inside the building were destroyed, the cameras outside are still intact." Snape said. "Unfortunately, the victim and culprit can't be seen, at the time the curtains were in front of the window, but we can hear them talking."

"And that's the only evidence we have right now...huh?" James suddenly bent down next to the body.

Sirius blinked in confusion, "Hey what are you doing?"

James stood back up, holding a golden locket that was miraculously still intact. He pried open the locket and a single sheet of paper stuffed into the locket floated onto the ground which read,

"Three times I strike,

In the dead of the night,

And my bounty rises through the floor,

When I kill four or more,

The blues tries to find,

But they can't solve the crime,

What am I?"


	3. Chapter 3

Hermione Granger slowly climbed out of her bed as soon as her alarm went off. She groaned as she rubbed her eyes and looked at the time on her LED alarm clock. She had about five minutes to get ready for school, but she was so tired she wished she didn't have to. She opened the door to her room and shuffled down the hallway to the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. She rummaged around the cabinets for her toothbrush, as soon as she found it she began to brush her teeth.

She looked horrible in the mirror, there were dark circles under her eyes and her hair had gotten more messed up than usual. She spit the glob of toothpaste in the sink, and wiped her mouth, before taking a quick shower. As the cold jets of water hit her in the face, she couldn't help but think back to the dream she had last night. She'd been getting a lot of weird dreams lately, and the one with her murdering some man in his apartment was by far the strangest, and most disturbing. She wasn't sure why, but the man she had killed seemed so familiar to her, but she couldn't remember who he was.

She stepped out of the shower and dried herself before putting on her school uniform. She grabbed her bag in her room and walked downstairs to eat breakfast. Her parents had already left before she had gotten up, and she wouldn't see them until she got back from school. Which was fine, running a clinic wasn't easy, but sometimes she wished they gave her a bit more attention. She flipped on the TV and switched the channels to the news, just to see if something recent had happened.

Soon enough, Rita Skeeter showed up and began to talk excitedly,

"This just in, a murder has taken place at the Grindlewald Appartment!" Skeeter said, "The victim was Qunirus Quirell, a professor at Hogwarts Academy, who was found dead this morning."

"The victim had apparently been stabbed twenty-six times in the chest and once in the neck, afterwards the culprit set fire to his apartment room in order to cover their tracks."

Skeeter continued to read her script, her smile suddenly growing wider, "The local police force had this to say," Skeeter switched the screen to a video of Harry's father talking to her.

"I'm sorry but until the chief gives us the okay, we can't talk about it." Harry's father said

The screen then switched back to Skeeter who still had a smile on her face, "The victim had allegedly had an affair with a younger student at the academy, which led to his firing in April of last year and had been revoked of his right to teach."

"Perhaps the culprit is his former wife? She had been rather outspoken about the man when allegations had started to surface, or perhaps it was another lover of Quirell's who was out for revenge?"

"Either way ladies and gentlemen," Skeeter said, "I'd advise you to be careful out there, you never know perhaps the one you trust the most is secretly a psychopath?"

"I'm Rita Skeeter, here to tell you the truth!"

"And now for the weather..."

Hermione tuned the cheerful weatherman out as her hands began to shake and her breathing became more erratic. Suddenly she felt sick, really sick, she ran to the bathroom and heaved her breakfast out into the toilet. She couldn't stop shaking, and the moments dream she had last night came flooding back to her memory. The look of desperation on Quirell's face as she let him go for the phone, the hopelessness that filled his eyes as she cut the phone line, and the she remembered the blood that had spilled all over the floor as she stabbed him over and over again.

"Wait...just pull yourself together..." She whispered to herself, "You can't kill someone in real life through a dream."

She stopped shaking and shakingly pushed herself to her feet, yeah it was absolutely impossible to kill someone through a dream. It wasn't possible, it went against all logic, there was no way she could be the culprit. For some reason, she couldn't help but smirk a little bit, before frowning once again. Even if, and it was a pretty big 'if', she had killed someone then the police would have no way to trace it back to her. The fire would have destroyed any evidence they could hope to find, and besides who would use, 'I killed someone in a dream' as a real way to pin someone for a crime. She sighed in relief and left the bathroom feeling a lot lighter than she had when she found out about the murder. She then grabbed her things and turned off the TV and left her home for school...


	4. Chapter 4

Severus Snape walked down the halls of the police station in a brisk pace, he checked his watch, it was 8:30 AM. There had been an accident a few hours ago, and so he had to take a detour to get to the station. It cost him about fifteen minutes to get here, and he was sure that certain people would be more than happy to find out that punctual Snape actual showed up late for once. It'd be annoying to have to deal with those people.

He nodded to a few of his co-workers as he walked down the hall and took a sharp right. He then came across a set of double doors and stopped. He could already hear the grumbling of the people inside the room, and briefly considered wasting a few extra minutes just to spite them. But he wasn't that petty... well he wasn't petty enough to act like a child. He'd leave that up to Black and Potter, both of whom never learned when to grow up. Snape entered the room, his lab coat billowing behind him as the people in the room turned to look at him.

"Well it's about time!" Black shouted, "Seriously what took you so long Sev?"

"Don't call me that." Snape snapped at him. "Anyway I'm going to assume we're all here?"

After seeing a majority of the people in the room nod, Snape continued, "Well then I suppose I should get started."

He then went over to a computer that sat in the back of the room, he then logged into his account and pulled up a PowerPoint he had saved when he was at the apartment. He flipped the lights off and began to speak to the police who had gathered in the room,

"As you all know, last night the Grindlewald Apartment caught on fire." Snape said, "You also know that the fire was a cover up for the murder of Quinirus Quirrell, a former teacher at Hogwarts Academy."

A photo of Quirrell's face showed up on the projection screen, along with information about the man. Snape then switched to a different slide which showed the state of Quirrell's burnt corpse.

"The victim was murdered after being fatally stabbed in the chest and the neck," Snape continued, "Afterwards his body was burned in attempt to get rid of the evidence."

"Fortunately, we were able to recover the body, for now it's sitting in the morgue."

Snape then switched to the next slide, which showed the state of the burnt apartment, "The cameras inside the apartment were destroyed, but..." He then switched the slide to a video, "Fortunately the outside cameras were still intact, and they picked up the time before, during, and after the murder."

"This is what the cameras caught," Snape said as he clicked on the play button for the video.

Quirrell's shadow can be seen through the curtains of the window sitting on a couch. Suddenly there's a knock on the door. Quirrell gets up from his seat and heads for the door,

"Huh, I think you have the wrong room," Quirrell says in confusion, "I don't think I'm who you're looking for."

The person says something softly, which the camera doesn't pick up, Quirrell though, reacts in surprise.

"Really...I didn't think they hire people so...young." Quirrell says, though there's something different about his tone. "Well if you're the one they sent, you can come in."

Quirrell then brings the person in and locks the door behind him.

"So what's your name?" Quirrell asks.

The person says something softly again, which the cameras are unable to pick up their voice.

"So your name is Rose? Well it makes sense given the color of your hair."

"Is this your first time Rose?" Quirrell asks, and he seemingly gets a response from 'Rose' that pleases him, "Don't worry just do what I tell you, and everything will be okay."

"So how old are you Rose?"

'Rose' answers Quirell's question which causes his tone to shift, "thirteen-years old, you're really young if you want to take on this kind of work." he says.

"Well I suppose that after this night you'll become a full fledged adult."

"DId you bring protection Ms. Rose?" Quirrell asks, "things could get...sticky."

'Rose' answers him before turning around and bending down to grab something.

"Well I think we'll have a pleasant-!"

'Rose' then whirls around and sticks something sharp in Quirrell's chest, judging by how small and thin it is, it appears to be a knife.

"N...gahgh..." Quirrell stumbles back as he stares at his chest, not comprehending the fact that he had just been stabbed. 'Rose' then tackles him to the ground before raising her knife into the air and stabbing Quirrell in the throat.

"Gaaaghgh!"

Quirrell then attempts to crawl away from the girl and heads toward his telephone, dialing 999 for help. The girl takes her time as she slowly walks over to Quirrell before slicing the phone line. She then repeatedly stabs Quirrell in the chest over and over again. Eventually she heads out of the room for a while before coming back with a jug of oil in her hands. She spills the oil around the room, lights a match, and then sets the room on fire before leaving.

"So he let her in," Potter says with a frown, "Well then that explains how she could have gotten into the room..."

"There weren't any signs of a break in," Snape said, "We also dusted the doorknob to see if we could find any fingerprints, it seems that she was wearing gloves at the time of the crime."

"And the only thing we know about the culprit is that she's thirteen, her name is 'Rose', and she does..." Black wrinkled his nose, "...things for lonely gentlemen."

The rest of the people in the room also showed signs of disgust at Quirrell's behavior.

"So then, do we know where he ordered the...services?" Potter asked.

Snape nodded, "Yes, he ordered a 'Funtime' service from Maids are Babes," Snape said, "It's a...place located on the corner of Knockturn Alley Avenue and Leaky Way Drive."

"Alright then Sirus, come with me, we'll head out and see what we can find out about this 'Rose' girl."

"Ugh," Black looked annoyed, "I hate that place so much, I always end up losing my wallet."

"Ah, c'mon stop being a baby," Potter said and physically dragged the other man out of the room.

Snape sighed as they left the room, really shouldn't they have grown up by now?


	5. Chapter 5

"Hey Hermione, are you alright?" Ron said to Hermine, concern could easily be seen on his face, "You look like you haven't slept at all..."

"I'm fine Ron, honestly how many times do I have to tell you that?" Hermione said.

"Well it's sort of worrying," Harry said, "You've been kind of out of it for the past few days..."

"You too Harry? look I'm telling you two- I'm fine you don't have to keep worrying about me."

"Well-"

"Shh!" Their homeroom teacher, Ms. McGonagall glared at them from her seat behind their row, and the three of them fell silent. The three of them sat in the backrow in the school's auditorium, the other students who had been quietly chatting to their friends fell silent after the reprimand from McGonagall. Today, the principal, Lucius Malfoy, had decided to gather everyone in the auditorium to talk about the death of Quirrell, which she found slightly annoying when they were wasting class time to talk about a...less than admirable man.

Eventually, the vice principal strutted his way onto the stage, and Hermione noted that he'd gotten another expensive watch. He'd obviously groomed his hair as well, and brushed his teeth so he could perfect his fake smile, along with wearing an expensive suit which showed no signs of wrinkles. He then began to speak into the microphone,

"Good morning students," He began, "I know that you're all just itching to get back to class, but I wanted to make an important announcement."

He cleared his throat, "You see one of our former professors has been violently murdered in his own home," he said.

"A coward who snuffed the light of a promising young man..."

Hermione couldn't help but snort at this, such a promising young man Quirrell was that he ended up in affair with a student, really he was a paragon of virtue. She ignored the looks Harry and Ron gave her and focused on the rest of the vice president's speech.

"I know some of you may despise him, but remember there was no proof of his supposed wrongdoings..." the vice principal continued, "Only allegations from a proven liar, should we really trust the words of someone like that?"

The students in the auditorium muttered to themselves as the vice principal continued his speech

"I also want to inform you about the press who will be showing up on this campus, and I want to set some ground rules."

"1, you will not talk to them about Quirell, anyone who does will have their scholarship revoked and will be expelled."

"2, you will not talk about the student who was allegedly," The vice principal frowned as the crowed muttered to themselves again, "allegedly, in a relationship with Quirell."

"3, you will not talk about the murder, if they ask tell them you haven't heard about it."

"And 4, you will not talk negatively about this campus, it's staff, the principal, or me."

The vice principal finished his speech with a smile, "Anyone who breaks these rules will be expelled, their scholarship will be revoked, and I will make sure to take your futures away."

"Alright then, you can all get back to your classes."

.

.

.

"Can you believe him?!" Hermione shouted as she, Harry, and Ron walked down the halls to their classes. "He just made us waste our time because he wants us to make him look good."

Ron sighed, "Well you know that's always how he and the principal have been," he said. " 'Remember, lying is bad, unless it makes the school looks good,' that's basically boiled down to."

Harry sighed as well, "Yeah, the school really has changed since Dumbledore left," he said wistfully, "I'd doubt he'd try to pull half the stuff Malfoy and Fudge do."

"Anyway, are you okay Hermione?" Hermione stopped walking and turned to face Harry.

"You asked me that earlier I already told you I'm-"

"I mean about the stuff Malfoy said," Harry interrupted her, "Didn't it bother you?"

"It did, but it's Malfoy, he doesn't know what he's talking about half the time." Hermione said.

"Yeah, but he's calling her a li-"

"Oh, we've reached my class," Hermione interrupted Harry and avoided his and Ron's looks at her, "Well I'll see you two later."

She quickly entered the classroom and got into her usual seat. A few students slowly filtered into the room and began to talk among themselves, she sighed and reached into her bags for her notebook. Then she went to get her penci-

She stopped as she looked at the silver object that was far from being a pen. In her hands she held a silver knife that had been polished until the surface shined, causing her to see her own reflection. She paused for a moment and then placed the knife back in her bag and got a pencil from her case as the teacher walked into the room. She then began to take notes as the professor began his lecture, as if nothing was wrong.


	6. Chapter 6

"Welcome masters!"

A woman dressed in a maid outfit greeted James and Sirius as they walked into Maids are Babes, and James couldn't help but wrinkle his nose at the strange sweet scent that lingered in the air. The...establishment looked like it jumped straight out of the 1950's with the checkerboard floor, the old jukebox that was playing songs in the back, and the old fashion seats some of the customers were sitting at. Women dressed in maid outfits bustled to and fro as they placed food for the customers on their tables or left the...establishment to go...please their masters. James couldn't help but sigh, he knew the economy had started to slow to a crawl, but he never imagined it had gotten this bad for the people who lived near Knockturn Alley.

Unlike the rest of London, Knockturn seemed to be in a never-ending slump, with its residents finding themselves wrapped up in debts they couldn't afford. The number of people sleeping outside on the streets had increased during the past few years, and in desperation some of the people had either turned to drugs, gangs, or prostitution to get by. Gang violence had increased, and the police nervously watched for any signs of a gang war. So far, the gangs hadn't done anything rash, but it was worth watching the gangs just in case things got too hectic.

"Are you here for the usual, or to place an order for a package?" The maid continued.

"Ah no, we're actually here for something else." James said as he held his badge out, "We're with the police, is the owner here?"

The smile on the maid's face faded, and James noticed that most of the customers had fallen silent. The customers eyes glared at James, becoming suspicious that a cop would show up at Maids are Babes for seemingly no reason.

"Yes she is officer, is there a reason you want to see her?" the woman said in a clipped tone as she looked him up and down.

"My partner and I wanted to ask her a question, it's about one of the workers here." James said.

The maid frowned, "Officer I think you don't understand how we work," she said. "We don't give out our worker's information, especially to the police."

"Look," Sirius growled, his patience at his limits, "One of your 'workers' murdered their client last night, just cooperate and maybe you'll be lucky enough to keep this 'establishment' running."

"Are you threatening us?" The woman asked in mock shock, "You get very far if you keep that attitude up."

The other customers murmured in agreement, their beady eyes glared at the two of them, they looked like they might soon do something they'd regret.

"We're not here to start a fight," James said in attempt to calm down the potential mob, "We just have a few questions to ask the owner, and then we'll leave."

The woman frowned, "I don't-"

"Don't worry Janice, I'll humor these polite officers." A voice spoke out from the back of the room, and a tall blond man walked to stand in front of James and Sirius. He wore gaudy clothes and smelled like cheap perfume, which explained the sweet smell that hung in the air. The man stuck his hand out and shook James hand, "Hello officer, I'm Gilderoy Lockheart-nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you too," James said as Lockheart continued to shake his hand, "So you're the owner Mr. Lockheart?"

"Correct, you truly are an amazing detective officer!"

"Ah..." James decided to ignore Locheart's sarcastic quip, "Anyway so can you tell us about one of your workers, her name is Rose."

"Hmm...Rose huh?" Lockheart mumbled to himself before perking up, "Sorry but there isn't any 'Rose' I know of."

"That's impossible," Sirius cut in, "We have evidence that this 'Rose' girl worked here and then killed Quirrell."

"Quirrell? Oh, you mean the man who was killed recently!"

"Yes, he called here for a 'funtime' package last night." James said, "So you or someone else should have known about him, and the girl who went to visit him."

Lockheart looked confused though and pulled out a notepad from his pocket. His frown grew deeper as he flipped through the pages. Eventually he snapped the notepad shut and looked at James and Sirius,

"I'm sorry but I don't see any customer listed as Quirrell in here..." Lockheart said. "Are you sure you have the right place?"

"Yes, we're sure we have the right place, this is Maids are Babes right?" Sirius asked.

"It is, but I don't see his name in here anywhere, I write down the names of each customer who calls us, but I don't have Quirrell's name in here."

"Maybe you erased it as soon as you found out he was dead?"

"Are you accusing me of something officer?" Lockheart asked in shock, "I'd be careful if I were you, do you even have anything that proves I would want a source of my money dead?"

"Well no but-" Sirius begins but gets interrupted by Lockheart,

"The way I see it, you have nothing but tangible evidence at best," Lockheart continues, "For all you know the girl could've been lying-regardless I think it's time you gentlemen see yourselves out."

"Wait," James said, "I just have two more questions to ask you Lockheart."

"Fine, but then you get out of my place."

"One, you never knew anything about Quirrell until today, is that correct?" James asked.

"I thought I already told you," Lockheart frowned, "I've never heard of this Quirinus person before today."

"Alright then here's my last question, was everything you said today the truth?"

"Yes."

"...Okay then, Sirius we're leaving." James said as he grabbed Sirius and left the store.

"Hey officers, maybe the next time you show up here we can be a bit more...friendly with each other." Lockheart called out as the two of them left the store, "I'm sure some lonely policemen at the station would like to relive their stress...if you know what I mean."

"That guy is such an asshole..." Sirius complained as soon as they were far away from Lockheart's place. "He's so smug for someone who's running the equivalent of a-"

"He's also a liar." James interrupted Sirius, "I don't know if he's stupid or if he just let it slip on purpose..."

"Let what slip?" Sirius asked in confusion

"I'll tell you later, first we've got to pay a little visit to Hogwarts."


	7. Chapter 7

Hermione sighed as the final bells rang, signaling it was time to go home. She couldn't concentrate today, ever since she found the knife in her bag. She'd taken to sitting at the back of most of her classes, trying not to draw too much attention to herself. She felt as though someone had punched her in the gut, and now it took most of her willpower to fight the urge to vomit. She hadn't eaten lunch either, the very thought of food made her feel ill, so she had decided to hang out in the library until lunch was over. Now that school had ended, she planned to make one last stop before she went home for the day.

"Hello Granger."

Hermione sighed again, as she heard someone she didn't like call out her name. She turned around to see Draco Malfoy standing a few feet away with his goons, Crabbe and Goyle, by his side.

"That was an interesting meeting this morning, wasn't it?" Draco said as he sauntered up to her. "A former professor found dead after having an alleged affair with a student."

Hermione felt a headache coming on as she frowned at Malfoy, "What do you want Draco?" she asked.

"I just wanted to chat with the class perfect," Draco said, a smile forming on his face, "It's not every day when someone you know gets murdered."

"Yes, it was a shocking tragedy, so could you leave me alone now?"

"Oh my, you don't sound very sad for our late professor."

"..." Hermione stayed silent as Malfoy continued,

"I'm willing to bet you're quite pleased that he's gone," Draco drawled on, "What a shame that he didn't die sooner, I'm sure she might have been happy if it had happened."

"..."

"Well not that it would have mattered, after all she isn't anyone impor-"

For a second Hermione was a bit confused, all she could see was red for a brief period, and then it suddenly cleared up. Her arms were yanked behind her back, and she was sure she must have torn her uniform at some point. Ron and Harry had shown up at one point and were yelling something, but she couldn't hear what they were saying. Then she saw that Draco was on the floor, his lip was busted, and blood dripped from his broken nose. His right eye rapidly began to swell until it shined in a purple hue, his uniform was torn near his shoulder and blood had began to seep through shallow scratch marks. Draco's mouth moved up and down, and Hermione strained to hear what he was saying.

"...tal." Draco said. "Absolutely mental!"

He scrambled to his feet, "When my father hears about this he'll-"

"He'll what?" Hermione's mouth moved on its own volition, "Be ashamed that his son got his ass kicked by a girl?"

Hermione shook the arms that were holding her back off her and approached Malfoy who took a few steps back.

"Seriously Draco, would you want to prove to him that you're even more pathetic than he thought?"

"Like I'd listen to someone who's a psychopath!" Draco shouted at Hermione. "Do you know how hard you hit me?!"

"Aw, little Draco can't take a punch or three," Hermione mocked, "Be a man for once and toughen up, I'm sure someone else will beat the shit out of you one day."

"Why you-!"

"Andddd I'm already bored, hey guys are you ready to go now?"

Harry and Ron blinked in surprise,

"Wait Hermione I think-" Harry started to say but Hermione couldn't hear the rest of it as her body grabbed Ron and Harry's hands and ran away as the teachers began to show up.

.

.  
"...mione."

"...mione."

"Hermione!" Hermione jolted awake as Ron shook her awake. She blinked in surprise to find herself sleeping on a green park bench, Harry and Ron looked down at her in worry.

"Hey, are you okay Hermione?" Ron asked, "You suddenly fell asleep after you ran out of the school."

"Ugh...yeah I'm fine." Hermione said as she tried to lean up "I...ow!"

Suddenly a sharp pain filled her head and she laid back down on the bench.

"Yeah, I wouldn't recommend moving, you hit the ground pretty hard."

"Well that explains why I'm in pain right now..." Hermione trailed off.

Harry cleared his throat, "So what happened back there Hermione?" he asked, "It was almost like you were a different person when you were beating up Malfoy."

"It's just...Malfoy said something I didn't agree with and I got angry." Hermione said. "That's all that happened."

"I've seen you get angry before, but I've never seen you like the way you were today," Ron said. "I'm going to guess, but was he saying something about...her?"

"Yes."

"Oh."

The three of them stayed silent for a while, apparently, they had run out of things to say to each other.

"Well Hermione do you need to go to the hospital or something?" Ron asked. "Actually, I think we should've done that first instead of bringing you here..."

"No, I'm fine." Hermione pushed herself up and leapt off the seat, "Mom and dad are probably waiting for me, see you guys later!"

Hermione walked off as fast as she could, after all she still had someone she had to see...


	8. Chapter 8

Gilderoy Lockheart flipped the sign from open to closed in front of his store and sighed. Most of his employees had left the store for their last shifts, leaving him alone in the darkness of his store. He unlocked the door to his office and slumped down in his chair, exhausted from the day's previous events. He should have known that the police would come eventually, but because he hadn't prepared last night they had caught him off guard. Thankfully, he'd already wiped his computer clean of any evidence that would connect Quirrell to his store, if they put out a warrant for his computer they wouldn't be finding any evidence against him. He didn't think they'd be fooled by the notepad he had shown them, after all a man who managed to run such a successful operation as him would have other documents from his 'clients'.

Lockheart couldn't help but smirk to himself, it seemed to be the perfect plan-and he hadn't made any slip ups. That probably would have made his 'partner' rather angry, or well angrier than usual. His partner seemed to have the emotional range of a child, switching from happy to sad to angry in the span of a few minutes.

"Maybe they're bipolar?" Lockheart asked himself as he leaned back in his chair. "It'd explain why they're so unpleasant to deal with most of the time."

"You know it's rather rude to talk about someone behind their backs."

Lockheart started as sat upright in his chair, his heart beating hard in his chest due to the unpleasant surprise. Calming himself down, he leveled a glare at the person who was sitting on his windowsill without a care in the world.

"You know, most people knock." Lockheart said.

"I'm not most people though," his partner said as they swung their legs back and forth, "I think you of all people should know that by now."

Lockheart sighed, "Can you at least get down from my window?"

"Nah, I think this is way more comfortable, besides I don't want your stench to get all over me."

"Ouch, you really don't hold anything back, do you?"

"Nope."

His partner reached into their pocket and tossed a bundle of bills that he scrambled to catch. He counted the bills and saw that there was about 700 pounds that she had given him, he placed the money in his desk drawer and turned back to face his partner.

"So, I guess our 'relationship' is over now?" Lockheart asked, "I have to say this has been thrilling, I may write about this in one of my books-"

His partner tossed another handful of bills at him, and he blinked in surprise. He counted the money there was about 1,000 pounds each in the stack, totaling to 10,000 pounds.

"Where did you get this, did you rob a bank?" He couldn't help but ask.

"Don't ask stupid questions," His partner berated him, "If I had you would've known about it from the news."

"So where did you get it?"

"I borrowed it from someone, they were really nice about it too."

"Right..." Lockheart didn't believe that for a second, be he decided to ask the other question that was in his mind, "So why are you giving this to me?"

"Consider it an advanced payment for something I want you to do," his partner said.

Lockheart frowned, "You're planning another murder, aren't you?"

"Yeah, but this guy really deserves it." His partner said, "You've already met him though, so you should know why I'm after him."

Lockheart thought for a second, then he realized who his partner was talking about.

"You mean that bastard who thinks he's god's gift to man," Lockheart said. "That's who you're offing next?"

"Yeah, he'll be the last target," his partner said, "So are you in?"

Lockheart had to think about it for a while, on the one hand he was knowingly assisting a murderer in their plans, and if they were caught there was no doubt that he would end up in prison or worse, while his partner might end up getting executed. The correct and morally right thing to do would find a way to convince his partner to turn themselves in to the police, as a way to make up for his past failure to prevent the death of his once friend. Thankfully though, his moral compass had been skewed so much over the years, he couldn't really tell right from wrong anymore. Plus, if they managed to get away with their crime, he may be able to write a book about this one day.

Lockheart looked up at his partner and nodded, "I'm in."


	9. Chapter 9

Hermione hated the smell of disinfectant; the stench was sometime so overpowering that it made her feel sick. Since she was in the hospital though, she'd have to deal with the unique smell for a while until she got what she came here for. She went up to the receptionist desk and waited for the receptionist to hand her the papers.

"You again?" The receptionist asked in exasperation, "You've been coming here to see her for the past few weeks, don't you have anything better to do?"

"Well visiting hours are still open, aren't they?" Hermione ignored the receptionist's loaded question and grabbed the clipboard, "That means I can still visit, despite of your personal feelings."

The receptionist sighed as Hermione rapidly filled out the forms that were attached to the clipboard.

"Do you have-"

"My ID?" Hermione asked as she fished around in her pocket and showed the receptionist her student ID, "It's right here, and here are the papers."

The receptionist groaned as Hermione pushed the papers in front of her. As Hermione turned to head to her friend's room she overheard the receptionist talking softly,

"I don't know why you'd even bother at this rate..."

Hermione's shoulders stiffened as she quickly made her way down the hospital corridor. She took the first right at the intersection of a hallway, and then a left right after that. Eventually she came across the room she was looking for, Room 256. She hesitated for a brief moment but steeled herself and went into the room. The smell of disinfectant and something musty wafted through the air, causing her to slightly wrinkle her nose. Balloons and get-well cards laid on a table close to the bed, roses were placed in a vase on the table as well, and streamers lined the celling. The television was still on, it was apparently switched to a channel about a chef screeching profanities at owners of other restaurants, she grabbed the remote and turned off the TV.

The sounds of beeping and whirring machinery pierced through the silence of the room, and a young girl laid in the bed, her eyes shut. A large tube traveled from her mouth to a machine that was lying by the side of the bed, an IV was hooked up to her arm, and tubes ran from her nose to another machine. The heartbeat monitors steadily beeped as Hermione took a seat in a chair next to the girl's bed. The girl's name was Luna Lovegood, and she was a good friend of Hermione's. In fact back when the two of them had started at Hogwarts they'd hang out together out of necessity.

Hermione was the stubborn know-it all, the girl who never knew when to stop talking. When she was younger she'd constantly question her teachers for more information about anything she could think of, she'd also try to push the people in her class to study more often. Especially Ron, who back then seemed to only care about sports and food, though now she knew he was actually a lot more than that. The others in her class didn't like her, and they made sure to let her know that every time they found her to be annoying.

"Can you believe her?!" Ron shouted loudly to Harry as they left their English class. "'It's not Mis-CHEE-vee-us, it's MIS-chuh-vus,'"

"What a know-it all, no wonder she has no friends."

Hermione pushed past Ron, glaring at him for a few moments before rushing off to the bathroom.

"I think she heard you." She heard Harry say before she could hear Ron say what she knew he would,

"So what?"

Eventually she had stopped asking questions all together and had tried to draw as little attention to herself. She hadn't made nay friends, and at times she felt like she should leave Hogwarts and go somewhere different, but then Luna had shown up.

It was during lunch when Hermione had resigned herself to eating alone again. At most of the other tables she had seen friends sitting together and laughing, no one had bothered trying to sit with her. One boy had almost done it, but he was cowed by the rest of his friends to sit with them instead. She sighed, well it wasn't like it bothered her anymore, she was used to it by now.

"Hello."

Hermione blinked in surprise and saw a young girl with blonde hair talking to her.

"Is anyone else sitting here?" the girl asked.

"A-ah, no." Hermione stuttered.

"So is it okay if I sit here?"

"U-um, yes you can sit here."

"Great!" The blond girl plopped her tray down on the table and sat next to Hermione. The cafeteria had fallen completely fallen silent as they watched the girl extend a hand out to Hermione.

"My name is Luna, what's yours?"

After that the two were nearly inseparable, and Hermione had finally started to enjoy her time at Hogwarts. Eventually, she managed to become friends with Harry and Ron after an... embarrassing incident all three of them had decided to never mention again. Then last year things began to change, Luna had suddenly become more and more withdrawn. Luna began to skip school, she rarely showed up for classes, and whenever she had tried to visit her, Luna's father would tell her that she was out for the day. Then one day, Luna was brought up during a meeting the vice principal had called.

"Student's it has come to my attention that one of you has attempted to shame one of your professors," the vice principal began, "Perhaps the student found it funny at the time, but I assure you this is no laughing matter."

The auditorium remained silent as the vice principal handed the microphone of to their professors,

"Students I will not mince words, one of you little punks has ruined my life," the professor said, "And for what? A misunderstanding- though I suppose this generation is more sensitive than most."

"And another thing-"

"Yes well," the vice principal grabbed the microphone from the professor, "I do not find it funny either-that's why I have decided to expel Luna Lovegood."

"Effective immediately, anything that belonged to her that she left here will be destroyed-and you are forbidden from talking to her."

"If I find out that a student has broken this rule," the vice principal said, "You will join her in expulsion-am I clear?!"

"Yes, sir." echoed the students, clearly confused and uncomfortable.

After that things had settled down for a while, and life had somewhat returned to normal. One rainy night, Hermione had heard a knock at her door,

"Hello?" Hermione asked as she opened the door. Luna was standing outside in the rain, soaking wet.

"Luna, why are you-nevermind, just come inside, you're soaking wet!" Hermione said.

Luna shook her head and handed something to Hermione in a gift box, "No I just came to say goodbye."

"Goodbye?" Hermione echoed in confusion, "Why would you come all this way just to say goodbye, are you moving somewhere?"

"In a way, I guess you could say that I'm moving..." Luna murmured to herself, "But I'm not particularly religious."

"What?"

"...Nothing just...will you hold onto what I gave you?"

"Um, sure but-" Hermione started to say, before Luna wrapped her arms around her in a hug before sprinting away into the darkness.

"Hey wait, Luna!"

She should have noticed it then, when Luna had shown up to her home in the dead of night. Hermione prided herself in her knowledge, but at the end of the day, when it really mattered, she had nothing to show for it.

"Holy shit, what's she doing up there?" Hermione had heard one of her classmates say when she was in her homeroom class.

"Language, Mr. Thomas." their homeroom teacher, Dolores Umbridge, chided him as he stared out the window. "Honestly, when will you children learn..."

"Oh...oh crap I think she's going to jump!" Thomas interrupted Umbridge, panic clear in his voice. The class crowded the windows in attempt to see what was going on, ignoring Umbridge's calls for them to sit back down.

"Hey wait isn't that...Lovegood?!" one of her classmates shouted. Hermione's heart skipped a beat and she struggled to push her way in front of the crowed. As she did so she could hear the students panicking even more,

"Oh my god... she just jumped!"

Hermione managed to worm her way to the front of her class as she saw Luna hit the ground.

"Ah..." her breaths became shallow as she took a step back and collapsed on the ground in a daze. She could hear her classmates screaming;

"Oh my god there's so much blood..."

"Holy shit...Holy shit!"

"S-someone call an ambulance! Call 119!"

"What the hell..."

"Ah...Ah...AHGGGGHHH!"

In all the panic and confusion, someone called an ambulance that took Luna away. The next day, Professor Quirrell was fired from Hogwarts, and had his rights to teach revoked. Hermione wished that she could turn back time, she wished she could go back to that night and try to do or say anything that could've stopped Luna from what she did after the night she had shown up her house. The doctors had said it was a miracle that she had survived a fall from that height, but the chances of her waking up were rather slim. They had put her on life support, and Luna had been in the hospital for the past two years.

"Hey, want to hear about what happened while you were gone?" Hermione asked the still sleeping Luna. It was a bit of a routine she had kept up once she was allowed to visit Luna, she would sit and tell her about the things that had happened while she was in her coma, partly for Luna and partly for herself as well. She told her about what had happened this morning with the vice president, about how she had gotten into a fight with Draco, and then...

Huh she was feeling really tired for some reason...

Maybe it wouldn't hurt to sleep for a few minutes... 


	10. Chapter 10

Lucius Malfoy gently rubbed a plague on the wall with a motion rag, trying to restore it to its once shiny glory.

"Father why won't you listen to me?!" Draco whined as he sat in a chair in Lucius's office. "You haven't heard a word I said for the past twenty minutes-have you?!"

Lucius hummed to himself as he rubbed the plague even harder, written on the plaque was, "Lucius Malfoy, number one vice principal in the world." He had received that plaque three years ago after Dumbledore had left Hogwarts, and it was a reminder of who was actually in charge of Hogwarts. The current principal, Fudge, was an absolute moron who had no idea how to run a school, thankfully Lucius was here to help steer the man in the correct path. Which was to stay in his office and pretend to be useful while Lucius did all of the work.

"Father, listen to me!"

Lucius sighed, unfortunately that meant he had to deal with student complaints, and with Draco being the way he was, he'd have to listen to his son rant on and on about the people he didn't like.

"What happened today Draco?" Lucius asked.

"I got punched- in the face!" Draco shouted as he pointed to his bandaged nose, "But I managed to get them back father."

"Did you now?"

"They didn't stand a chance when I got serious father, I wiped the floor with them!"

"Oh that's nice," Lucius said as he breathed on his plaque and rubbed it with the rag, "What happened after that?"

"They ran off like the cowards they were," Draco spat out, "You should have seen them father."

"Right, so why are you here Draco?" Lucius asked.

"I wanted to tell you about-"

Suddenly someone knocked at the door, and Lucius sighed in relief.

"Draco, I have some business to do, hurry up and get home." Lucius said. Draco protested at first, but Lucius shoved him out the door. He then addressed the person who had knocked on his door,

"Yes, how can I help you... Potter."

"Hello Lucius," Potter said as he and Black entered Lucius's office, "We wanted to talk to you, there are some things that need some clearing up."

"'Some things'?" Lucius asked, "You'll have to go into more detail, I don't know what you're referring to."

"We'll go into more detail, but shouldn't you tell your kid to head home?" Potter asked.

Lucius frowned and saw that Draco was still standing out in the hallway, "Draco, go home now."

"But father I-"

"Now."

Draco stomped off in a huff, and Lucius sighed. Really, what did he do to receive a son as worthless as Draco?

"So what do you want to talk about officers?" Lucius asked.

"It's about Quirrell," Black spoke up, "You two were pretty close before you fired him, did he have any friends he liked to talk about?"

"Shouldn't you have asked Quirrell's wife?" Lucius asked, "We were friends yes, but we hardly spoke about our outside lives."

"So you only talked about work?" Black asked, "It doesn't sound like you were friends if all you did was talk about work."

"That's because we weren't exactly friends...we were more like coworkers."

"Coworkers, huh?" Potter asked rhetorically, "Well then if you were coworkers, he wouldn't have mentioned a Lockheart, would he?"

Lucius's heart skipped a beat when Potter mentioned Lockheart's name, but he quickly forced himself to calm down.

"No, he never mentioned a Lockheart to-"

Ring, ring, ring...

His cellphone suddenly began to ring and sweat began to form on Lucius's forehead. He inwardly cursed himself, he had forgotten to put it on silent when Draco was complaining to him, and now he was paying the price for it. Lockheart had called him early this evening, saying something about how the location he was supposed to have gone to had changed. Apparently, the woman he had chosen for the night had come down with some illness, but another one was going to meet him at the Lovitt Hotel. It was far out of the way for him, but today's events had left him worn out, so he had agreed. Lockheart had told him he would call later to discuss payment.

"Are you going to answer that?" Black asked after Lucius did nothing while his phone was ringing.

"It's probably just Draco, ready to complain about something," Lucius lied, "I'll talk to him once I get home."

Eventually his phone stopped ringing and Lucius sighed in relief,

"So back to your questions gentlemen," He said, "I have never met this 'Lockheart' person you're talking about, is that all you wanted to ask?"

"Yes, well since you're telling the truth, we'll get out of your hair." Potter said as he turned to leave.

Black patted Lucius roughly on the back, "Yeah, see you later Malfoy."

The two of them then left, leaving Lucius alone in the room. He waited for a few minutes before rapidly dialing Lockheart's number. He tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for the call to connect.

"Hello?"

"You idiot!" Lucius hissed at Lockheart, "Do you realize how close you were to ruining everything?!"

"Sorry, how was I going to ruin everything?" Lockheart asked in confusion.

"Some cops showed up asking me if I knew if you and Quirrell knew each other!"

"Oh...my bad." Lockheart said sheepishly, "Oh well, nothing we can do about it now."

"You...just how much money do I owe you?" Lucius decided against getting into an argument, he just wanted to get this over with.

"2,000 pounds, like we discussed."

"Fine, by the way is she at the hotel yet?"

"She's been waiting for you for a while," Lockheart said, "Make sure you have fun but not too much fun, I need her ready for tomorrow."

"Alright then, I'm heading over there now." Lucius hung up his phone and grabbed his coat before leaving the office. He climbed into a cab intent on having the best time to make up for today, he smirked to himself as leaned back in his chair. It truly was a great time to be alive...


	11. Chapter 11

_Lucius: So, what are you wearing?

Rose: What do you mean by that, shouldn't you already know?

Lucius: I mean under what you're wearing right now.

_

 _Rose: That's a S-E-C-R-E-T ～_ _!_

 _Lucius: Hahaha, alright I can't wait to get started._

 _Rose: Neither can I, I hope you get here soon ～_ _!_

"Ugh I can't believe I'm writing this crap." Lockheart said as he stood on the roof of the Lovitt Hotel, "It just makes me want to gag."

He slid his cellphone in his pocket and looked over at his partner who had decided to lie down on the ground and play games on their phone. He sighed again, he wasn't sure how they could play a game when things were getting a bit intense, but then again he rarely understood their methods.

"So when's he getting here?" his partner asked, "He's sure taking his sweet time."

"Apparently he had to get a taxi," Lockheart said, "He didn't want to draw attention to himself, some cops apparently showed up asking about Quirrell."

"Was that all they asked about?"

"Well no, they apparently asked about me too, I don't know why you told me to let them know I was lying," Lockheart asked in confusion, "It seems kind of counterproductive, don't you think?"

His partner shrugged their shoulders and went back to playing their game, signifying that they thought the conversation should be over. Lockheart thought about saying something for a few seconds, but he turned away and looked over the edge of the building. The city was lit up in all of its glory, creating a picturesque setting. The air was humid and stuffy, and clouds had started to roll in the sky, it seemed that it was going to rain soon. Lockheart regretted not buying an umbrella, he didn't really want to get his hair wet.

"So what are you going to do when this is all over?" Lockheart found himself asking, "Are you going to keep killing, or are you going to turn yourself in?"

"Neither," his partner stood up and stretched, "I don't plan on going to prison anytime soon, and it's not like I like killing."

"But you do it, even if you don't like it."

"There are some people who really deserve it, like Quirrell and Lucius."

"Well yeah they're horrible people, but don't you think this is kind of a bad precedent?" Lockheart asked as he looked over at the city, "I mean Lucius has a kid...I kind of feel bad for doing this."

"..."

"I mean not that I'm chickening out or anything, I'm just a bit nervous."

"..."

"I hope those cops aren't tailing him here or anything."

"They probably are, they'd be suspicious of the two of you either way," his partner said, "Lucius is a good liar, but he likes to underestimate the people who are working against him."

"Yes that's true..." Lockheart frowned as he got another text from Lucius.

 _Lucius: So where are you, I had to deal with an unpleasant man, so I'm rather peeved._

 _Rose: Oh Lucius you're here!_

 _Rose: I'm on the roof, just take the elevator to the fifth floor and go through the door that leads to the roof._

 _Rose: It should be at the end of the hallway for the hotel._

 _Lucius: Why do you want to meet on the roof?_

 _Lucius: I'd rather do it inside, if you know what I mean._

 _Rose: Aw but Lucy, don't you think it's more romantic to do it under the stars?_

 _Rose: Please, can you do it for me?_

 _Lucius: No, well unless you drop your price..._

 _Rose: I'm sure boss won't mind, especially I give you all my love ～_ _!_

 _Lucius: Haha, alright fine I'll humor you for a little bit,_

 _Lucius: But then we're heading straight back inside, got it?_

 _Rose: Alright, thank you Lucy, you're the best!_

"Okay he's on his way here," Lockheart said as he slid his phone back into his pocket, "So let's get ready."

His partner nodded and slid their phone into their pocket before hiding behind the entrance to the roof. A few moments later and Malfoy had made his way up to the roof, he blinked in surprise when he saw Lockheart standing there.

"What are you-"

Malfoy soon screamed out in pain as his partner tazed him from behind, and then collapsed to the ground.

"Ouch that look like it hurt." Lockheart said as he bent down next to Malfoy and fished around in his pockets.

"Y-you w-what are-"

"Hello, Vice Principal Malfoy," his partner said in a low voice as they stepped in front of Malfoy and smiled. "You probably don't recognize me but I can assure you that we have met in the past."

Malfoy blinked in confusion, "I recognize you...don't you go to school at Hogwarts?" He then began to get angry, "What do you think you're doing-attacking your vice principal like this?!"

"Don't act like you don't deserve it." his partner said, "You deserve every bit of pain you're going to be going through, after what you did."

"What, I haven't done anything wrong!" Malfoy shouted, "I've only done what I have in the best interests of the school and its stu-"

"That's a lie."

"What? I couldn't hear you, what did you say?"

"That's a lie!" his partner shouted, "You've only thought about yourself- you could care less about us!"

His partner motioned to him, and Lockheart brought Malfoy up to his feet. "You know you should feel honored," Lockheart said in a quiet voice, "You're going to get to use the express elevator."

"Express elevator? What are you talking about..." Malfoy's face grew pale as Lockheart dragged him over to the edge of the hotel. He slowly began to try and struggle out of Lockheart's hold, but Lockheart kept a firm hold on Malfoy.

"Listen I don't know what they're paying you but I can double it!" Malfoy shouted in panic, "No wait, I can triple it!"

As Lockheart dragged him to the edge, Malfoy began to cry,

"Please, I have a family!" he sobbed, "Please don't kill me!"

"Lockheart move."

Lockheart moved out of the way as his partner kicked Lucius in the back, sending him plummeting to the ground. Lockheart winced as Malfoy hit a car that was parked below him, the warped metal impaled the man as shards of glass rained down on the ground as the car's shrill alarm pierced through the night. Malfoy's limbs were twisted in an unnatural position as he died, his neck was twisted far to the right, giving Lockheart a full view to the horror that had filled Malfoy's eyes. People began to rush outside to see what was happening, and screamed in horror as they saw Malfoy's corpse. Lockheart felt like throwing up, but a tug on his sleeve tore him away from the gruesome scene.

"Hey we need to go now," his partner said, "The cops could be here at any moment, you got his cellphone right?"

Lockheart could only nod.

"Great, alright let's go."

And so the two of them quickly ran down the stairs and into the elevator. As they got to the ground floor they could see people pacing back and forth as they waited for the police to arrive. The two left the building without any incidents and climbed into Lockheart's car and drove away.

"So where to next?" Lockheart asked as he focused on the road. His partner opened their mouths to say something-

Hermione jolted awake in her seat in the hospital and rubbed her eyes. She had fallen asleep again, and this time someone she knew very well had just been killed. She wasn't sure what to think about it, should she turn herself in? That would be the right thing to do but...she didn't want to go to jail. But shouldn't someone like her go to jail? Why should she go to jail? It's not like there was a rule saying that if you dreamed about someone dying you're guilty. But still maybe she should do something? What could she possibly do, it would be better to leave now and get an alibi, the receptionist would be a great way to cover for herself. Still arguing with herself, Hermione left the room, unsure of what to do next... 


	12. Chapter 12

_"Good evening everyone," Rita Skeeter said as she addressed the crowd who watched with rapt attention. "I'm Rita Skeeter here to update you on the latest happenings in London."_

 _"Tragedy strikes the Lovitt Hotel as Lucius Malfoy, principal of Hogwarts Academy, was killed after falling off the roof of the hotel."_

 _"While we are unable to know why he chose to go to the hotel in a taxi of all things, we are not sure." Skeeter said. "However, we do know why he went to the hotel, to have sex with his mistress."_

 _Suddenly, a photo of a silhouetted woman appears on the TV screen, and Rita continues on with the segment, "Despite the clean image Lucius Malfoy worked oh so hard to keep, even he couldn't risk temptation." Skeeter smirked._

 _"Isn't it such a shame to know those who are in power will inevitably become corrupt?"_

 _"While we're on the topic of Lucius Malfoy's death, let's note the connection between the two crimes." Skeeter said. "Both crimes have one specific motive, revenge."_

 _"For the viewer at home you may be asking yourselves, "What did they do to make someone want to kill them in revenge?""_

 _"Well the reason for this is simple, you are all aware of Quirrell's alleged relationship with a student, correct?"_

 _"And I suppose you're all aware about the actions that student took right after that, correct?"_

 _"Well there were some rumors floating around," Skeeter said as she intentionally built up the drama, "That Lucius Malfoy paid off the police chief so the allegations wouldn't be looked into."_

 _"But you may be asking yourselves, "But why would he try to cover up a 'lie' from a student?""_

 _"The reason for that is simple, if word got out that one of Hogwarts professors had a relationship with a student, and the vice principal knew or suspected about the relationship, it would do catastrophic damage to the school's image." Rita said._

 _"And we all know how uptight Lucius Malfoy was about his image," Skeeter sighed melodramatically, "It's such a shame that a master of deception is dead, I'm sure his family is sorry to see him go."_

 _"This has been Rita Skeeter with the Daily Prophet, signing out!"_

"You know, glaring at the TV isn't going to make her go away," Remus said as he walked up to Sirius, "No matter how much you wish she would."

"She's like a freaking bug..." Sirius frowned as the news broadcast continued, "She just never knows when to quit, and she always keeps coming back for more."

"Haha, you really hate her, don't you?"

"Kinda."

"Anyway, this isn't the time to talk about reporters," Sirius said as they headed down the hall to the room they had been yesterday, "Did we at least make some progress in the case?"

"Yeah we made some headway in the case," Remus said as he quickly logged into the computer in the room, "For example we learned this;

Remus hit the 'play' button on an audio file, and soon Sirius could hear Lucius's voice.

"I recognize you...don't you go to school at Hogwarts?" Lucius said, before saying in a more aggressive tone ,"What do you think you're doing-attacking your vice principal like this?!"

The sound file stopped playing, and Remus couldn't help but smirk. The bug he had planted on Malfoy had actually paid off, despite the fact that it shorted out immediately after that bit of conversation. The biggest thing now was, they had an actual lead on the case. The killer was someone from Hogwarts, they probably hadn't graduated yet given the fact that Malfoy recognized them from school, but they couldn't be someone who had recently entered the school.

"So it looks like we'll be paying Hogwarts another visit next morning," Sirius said, "I'm pretty sure that by tomorrow will have this case wrapped up in a tiny little bow."


	13. Chapter 13

Hermione sighed as she made her way to school, feeling rather awful about yesterday. Bags had formed under her eyes and her skin had gotten pale, she hadn't even fully brushed her hair either so it was more frizzy then it was yesterday. She stopped walking and looked behind her, for some reason she felt as though someone was watching her.

"Hello?" She called out, "Is anyone there?"

Silence was the only answer she got, so she kept walking, though a bit more cautiously this time. As she made her way to the school gates, her heart leapt into her throat. There were dozens of police cars parked in the school's lot, and officers were heading into the building. Sweat began to pour down her forehead as she watched the officers intently. In fact she was so focused on what she was doing she nearly jumped into the air when she felt someone tap her shoulder.

"Ahh!" She screamed as she whirled around to see a confused Ron who had his hand outstretched.

"Er, Hermione are you alright?" Ron asked.

Hermione glared at him as she held a hand over her beating heart,

"No I'm not alright!" She snapped at him, "You nearly gave me a heart attack Ron!"

"Oh, sorry."

"Anyway, did you hear about Malfoy's dad's death?" Ron asked. Hermione nodded, it was all the news stations could talk about today. They kept going on and on about the 'hidden connection' between Quirrell and Lockheart which lead to their deaths, seemingly more excited about talking about the crime rather than the people. She figured that give or take a few weeks, the media stations would switch to a different topic entirely, they were rather fickle like that.

"Yeah well guess what, apparently the police found out that the killer goes to our school," Ron continued, "It's kind of creepy to think that there's been a psycho killer hiding here in plain sight."

"O-oh." Hermione said, desperately wishing the conversation would move onto something else.

"I mean there's a high chance it could be someone we know really well, isn't that cool Hermi-Hermione?"

Ron stopped himself mid-sentence and looked at Hermione who had clasped her arms around herself and began to shake.

"Are you alright?" He asked, "You don't look so good."

"How could you think this is cool Ron!" Hermione shouted, "There's a killer hiding in the school, what if they decide to kill a student for the sake of it?!"

"A-alright it isn't cool, but you got to admit you're a bit interested, right?" Ron asked as he held his hands up in a placating manner. "They'd have to be pretty organized if they could get away with two murders, I wonder what their motive is?"

"I-"

Hermione was interrupted by the ringing of the school bell.

"Oh, that's right we should head to class now," Ron sighed, "Man I wish they'd closed school or something."

.

.

.

"Ahem, students..." Principal Fudge said over the intercom as they were in class, "The polite officers have informed me that they will be holding interrogations here at the academy."

"When you hear your name, head straight for room 205, don't make any detours, otherwise the officers will be angry."

"First, Hannah Abott, you are needed in room 205."

Over the course of the day, other girls were called up to the room to be interrogated for their possible involvement in the murders. Strangely, none of the boys had been called up to be interrogated, which caused some people to theorize that the murderer must be female.

"Hermione Granger, you are needed in room 205."

Hermione had been slightly out of it during the day, her mind raced as she tried to figure out a way to talk to the officers that wouldn't implicate her. But she kept jumping from topic to topic, her thoughts raced as she imagined herself getting locked up in prison at her age, or getting executed, or...

Her breaths came out in short puffs as she walked up the stairs to the interrogation room and she could see dark spots forming in her vision. And then she felt herself fall to the ground and hit the stairs before everything went dark.

.

.

.

"So then Hermione," She heard Harry's father say to her as he and another man sat on the opposite side of a table. Apparently after fainting she had gotten up at some point and gone to the room and was being interrogated by the officers in the classroom.

"Where were you last night?"

"I was hanging out with Luna officer," Hermione's mouth moved on its own and answered the officer's questions, "I have an airtight alibi too."

"We're not suspecting you yet," Harry's father said, "We just wanted to...check up on you."

"Huh?" 'Hermione' tilted her head in confusion, "But isn't this an interrogation, you don't interrogate people unless you think they're suspicious."

"Well that's..."

"You do think we're suspicious, don't you?"

"Well we have evidence that shows the last victim knew the murderer went to school here," The man sitting next to Harry's dad said, "So we're just checking things out."

"Well then shouldn't you interrogate the boys then?" 'Hermione' asked, "They go to school here just like us girls, aren't they suspicious too?"

"There's a reason we're not interrogating the boys Hermione." Harry's dad said. "It's because-"

"Because you're sexist right?" Hermione interrupted.

"What no, we're aren't-"

"It's the only thing that makes sense to me," 'Hermione' crossed her arms, "The chief is a bona fide sexist, maybe his ideals rubbed off on you."

"That's not what we're talking about right now-" The man next to Harry's dad began, but Hermione interrupted him,

"Are you perverts then, do you have a thing for girls in school outfits?"

"Why you-"

"Calm down Sirius," Harry's dad said before sighing and turning to face 'Hermione' "Is there a reason you're acting like this?"

"I'm just a little miffed that I had to leave class and get interrogated for a crime I didn't commit," 'Hermione said. "Really I have an alibi so you can't really go after me."

Harry's dad sighed, "Alright then we're done here, you can head back to class."

'Hermione' smiled and practically skipped out of the room, and as she went down the stairs, she couldn't contain the laughter that was bubbling up in her chest. She laughed all the way to her class, a plan rapidly forming in her mind...


End file.
